This is a global GSM phone, it can be used with T-Mobile's 1700MHz 3G band, and with AT&T without 3G.

HTC Nexus One Release Date - January 05, 2010

Introduction:

When we first caught wind that Google had something in the works for the mobile space everyone assumed it was a phone, but as we all know the big announcement revealed it was much more, an open-source mobile operating system. The commercial launch of Android was important, but on the nation's fourth largest carrier it was also relatively quiet despite selling well. Last summer a second device- the HTC Magic/My Touch 3G- was added to T-Mobile's lineup with a major marketing push behind it, and Motorola made its Android debut with the CLIQ. In the fall Sprint became the second carrier to support Android with the launch of the HTC Hero followed quickly by the Samsung Moment. Android was gaining momentum, but what really pushed it over the brink was the launch of the heavily-hyped Motorola DROID by the nation's largest carrier, and alongside it the Hero-esque DROID ERIS. But amid the avalanche of new device launches and public awareness there again were whispers that we would see a Google Phone after all.

Say hello to the HTC Nexus One, sold exclusively through Google. This phone shouldn’t be new to you however; we first spied it way back in October as the HTC Passion. The Nexus One is indeed manufactured by HTC, and while the packaging makes no mention of this fact HTC has managed to get its logo directly on the phone. Specs are impressive: a 3.7” AMOLED display, 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash, 3G and Wi-Fi and- most importantly- a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Oh, and it’s the first device to run Android 2.1 as well. In the box you’ll find a neoprene carrying pouch, cool-looking stereo headphones, microUSB data cable and AC adapter and an included 4GB microSD card installed.

Design:

We’re going to be upfront about this: the instant we unboxed the Nexus One and picked it up the first words out of our mouths were “We want this.” After about five minutes with the device we had changed our minds, and here is why: at least in our normal-sized hands it’s just not comfortable to hold. This is most apparently when navigating the menu in portrait mode, because the device is top heavy and the natural position is to hold onto the bottom half of the phone when using it. While on a call, where one is more prone to extend the index finger along the length of the back the thing feels great, two-handed use in landscape mode is as comfortable as can be and even holding the device upside-down is pleasing. But, the truth is that we use our phones most often with one hand and the Nexus One has a tendency to almost jump out of our hands. We got laughed at for literally dropping it while sitting stationary navigating the interface, but when we handed the phone over the same thing happened and the laughter quickly turned into confusion.

The HTC Nexus One has a tendency to almost jump out of our hands

So, that is our main gripe with the Nexus One, let us move on. The screen. Oh my God the screen. Not since Rachel Bilson’s big brown eyes lit up the OC have we gotten lost staring at something so easily. It is massive, and it is beautiful. The colors jump out at you, and while no official spec is listed we have to believe it is capable of 16 million colors. It has a 480x800 pixels resolution with a 100,000:1 contrast ratio, and a superfast 1ms response rate. Everything is so vivid and bright it’s almost like looking at a picture frame. It is without a doubt the best display we’ve ever seen, though like the Samsung Moment the whites have a noticeable blue tint to them. The display is gorgeous enough when viewed straight-on, but its brilliance really shines when viewed from awkward angles. Everything is still super sharp, whereas the great displays on the DROID and iPhone lose their mojo.

Visually the HTC Nexus One looks very similar to Sprint’s Hero, but uses the touch-sensitive navigation keys like the DROID ERIS. The layout of these keys are identical to the DROID, but the Nexus One adds a trackball (again, the smaller one like the ERIS) for added navigational options. In terms of feel we prefer the larger ball of the Hero but aesthetically we understand why HTC chose the smaller ball. The touch sensitive keys worked mostly ok when held in the typical position, though we did find ourselves having to hit the back key multiple times on several occasions. When sitting on a table in front of us we had issues with all of the keys, leading us to believe that the sensor is closer to the top of the keys than centered or on the bottom. This was mildly annoying.

Visually the HTC Nexus One looks very similar to Sprint’s Hero

The business-friendly gray comes in two different shades and the pattern strangely reminds us of Motorola’s ic502 hybrid CDMA/iDEN device. Physical buttons are limited to the volume rocker on the left side and power button up top. These both have minimal travel but enough to know that the button has been pressed. The trackball can also be pressed to select items. The microUSB (finally) charging/data port along with some dock connectors are on the bottom. We’ve yet to see a dock accessory, but it is no doubt coming as it has passed the FCC (with Bluetooth, no less.)

The back of the HTC Nexus One has a large 5 megapixel camera with a single LED flash to its right. There is a small cutout for the ample speaker, and almost hidden along the left side is a second microphone used for active noise cancellation. The housing is Teflon-coated to resist dirt and grime, a trick we first saw on the white GSM Hero. No “with Google” branding here, the Nexus One is simply branded “Google.”

The Nexus One is a beautifully boring phone. There is no emphasis on style, yet it still remains an object of desire. If HTC had evenly distributed the weight, or even made it bottom-heavy, the Nexus One would likely be our favorite phone out there. The iPhone isn’t the most comfortable thing to hold either, but at least it doesn’t jump out of our hands. We have a feeling that with a few weeks under our belt this will become less of an issue, but it still holds the Nexus One back from being truly great design-wise. Still, we do kind of want one.

34 Comments

Display mode:

Certainly a very decent smartphone, but I can't get past the uninspiring design of both exterieor and the UI (I totally agree with this conclusion: "The enhanced UI is nice, but we still want Sense").
When I am paying 530 dollars plus tax for a phone that I am planning to be using daily for the next 3 years, I want something more aesthetically pleasing like HD2 or Xperia X10 - even though it takes both forever to reach U.S. markets, and they will also be more expensive than N1.
I also prefer to have some physical buttons on the phone (programmable if possible), and the trackball sort of looks useless.
In any case, the more competition - the better.

Why doens't phonearea know this?
The only reason multitouch isn't enabled, is because Apple has a software patent on it.
In Europe software patents aren't allowed, so companies can use it.
Blame it on Apple...

thats not true, look at the hero and the pre/pixi. it may very well be true that google doesnt want to get into it with apple, but there are two htc devices currently available in the us (pre and eris) with a third one coming (hd2) that have multitouch.

Apple has U.S. Patents on specific interactions (e.g. pinch to zoom etc), not on multi-touch technology itself. That predates Apple's interest.
Even though software patents are not (yet) honored in the E.U., companies that manufacture cell phones for the US market must honor US patents. Conversely, it is also true that U.S. companies doing business in other places (e.g. Europe) must honor patents in markets they are present. This often leads to cross-licensing agreements between several patent holders, or alternatively, court battles.

totally agree, HTC can do a lot better than this, of course google is paying for what they want (options) just got it a week ago and my hero (chin) still beats the N1 when it comes to fun, also quality of calls and even power buttom, my phone sometimes it goes on while in my pocket when I have just turned it off, no bueno...I mean how expensive is to have some cool animations, apps security, and original design.. notice how most android phones have several options that are all the same, not sure if this has something to do with the OS but come on these phones are not cheap, google could not even afford to have a different clock widget than the o.g. android phone, give me a break
Xperia x10 that's a step up, hopefully it will have some privacy settings in general, and hopefully it will be withing the Tmobile USA frequency for 3g.
sorry guys get emotional about phones looking alike in models, just like the cars, after 5 years they only change head lights and tail lights
haaaaaaaaa haaa

Being completely impartial to the various camps here (i.e. I just don't care), I really do think the UI looks a bit 'meh' and clunky, compared to Sense. It's reminiscent of the Symbian OS, and doesn't seem as visually rich or streamlined as a phone with a 1GHz CPU in could have. Thoughts?

Hey there!! I also have att! I see you got the NEXUS....am I hearing you right that you whent to the web page and are able to use the phone now on the att 3g system?? Please respond to my e-mail cdm1161@yahoo.com if you can share this with me. Thanks coz this is the phone I want but not if it is stuck on 2g for att.
Thanks in advance

I'm trying to decide between Nexus 1 (Don't like the camera and no office edit app from scratch) Omnia II (not as fast?) and HTC HD2 (not the best camera and more expensive). So which of the three would you people buy/recommend. Looking for a good camera and edit documents mostly Thanks in advance for the replies

33.newnex (unregistered)

when i got my phone i did not right away import my contacts from my sim...now with the gingerbread 2.3.4 upgrade i cannot access the option to do so coz the options touch button (one with 3 hotizontal lines on the screen) only pops up the key board to type.....
surely on all open pages, all that the touch button does is open the key pad!....
can someone please tell me how correct this...coz i think my phone will be useless if i do not have options to access the applications to edit to my own specifications.

should i return the phone..or is a reboot available for this phone to revamp its system?...

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